The Swish Pattern

The visual swish is another popular technique used in NLP. It also involves the use of the mental screen. It is used to change your feelings about something you don’t like.

You start by looking at the imaginary movie screen and seeing yourself just like it’s somebody else. See yourself doing something you don’t like and feel the feeling you want to get rid of.

Now imagine something you like and feel the way you want to feel.

Start with the old image big and bright and a new image as a small dark square in the corner of the old one.

Perform the swish—quickly expand and brighten the new image while simultaneously shrinking and darkening the old image. Do it quickly. Perform several times.

Another variant of the swish pattern is to imagine someone you don’t like (your boss, for example). Watch them for a little while. Now imagine them wearing a clown suit. Add little horns and moustache. Instead of hearing them speaking imagine that they speak in a squeaky voice that makes people laugh. Make the image silly and you’ll notice that you can’t help smiling. Repeat as needed.